Met Office issues rare extreme red heat warning update as 36C forecast Thursday

Met Office issues rare extreme red heat warning update as 36C forecast Thursday The Met Office have issued a heat warning update as scorching temperatures are likely to cause chaos across the UK this week as the country faces its fifth heatwave The Met Office have issued a rare extreme red heat warning update as temperatures are expected to skyrocket to 36C on Thursday. The forecaster has warned that as highs are predicted this week, there will be possible impacts to railway lines and power networks. The Met Office has said they are considering issuing rare amber or red extreme heat warnings. The scorching temperatures will see parts of the UK bake in their fifth heatwave of the summer. Monday will be slightly cooler before temperatures rise again on Tuesday. “We’ll probably see highs reaching the mid-30s quite widely on Wednesday, and indeed on Thursday too for England and Wales,” Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said. “On Wednesday, probably the Midlands, maybe a little bit further south, the M4 corridor, west of London, up towards the Midlands, is where we might have a small chance of reaching 36C in one or two spots. “But Thursday at this stage looks the most likely hottest day of the week. “So 36C is a fairly reasonable probability locally on Thursday and there’s a small chance it could get even higher than that.” Due to recent warm conditions half of England and Wales has been plunged into drought and more regions could be declared when officials meet at the National Drought Group on Monday. Mr Morgan said: “If it wasn’t for this incredible summer that we’re currently seeing, then we’d be talking about these temperatures as being really, very unusual. “But of course, we’ve had such an exceptional summer, people have become a bit used to it. “There is a potential for impacts, so impacts to infrastructure, things like railway lines and power networks, impacts to vulnerable people as well.” Health alerts are already in place as officials have warned that vulnerable people will be impacted in the upcoming hot weather. Yellow heat health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency are in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, South West, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and London and currently continue until 9pm on Tuesday. These may well be extended as the hot weather continues. Meanwhile, the Met Office is considering issuing rare extreme heat warnings ahead of the scorching temperatures forecast later in the week. “We sometimes issue extreme heat warnings, amber and red warnings, which we did back in June, so that’s under consideration at the moment,” Mr Morgan said. Another record is set to tumble this week after Sunday was the 34th day so far this year when temperatures exceeded 30C somewhere in the UK, equalling the record from 1995. So far, the extreme weather of summer 2026 has included two record-breaking heatwaves in May and June that led to more than 2,800 excess deaths.